Early last year we picked up a milk frother so that we could start making our own lattes at home – and it probably was one of the best purchases we’ve ever made (that and our recent air-fryer). I’ve been having a lot of fun making my own lattes at home, and I’m also saving a lot of money! I wanted to level them up with some latte art, (you know me – I love making Instagramable moments), so I looked into buying up some latte stencils only to end up hating all of the designs I found. So naturally, I decided that I would try to make my own using my Cricut!
I started researching food-safe acetate and found some sheets available on Amazon. I ended up picking up this kind, which had great reviews online, and also came with a recommendation from a friend of mine. I was able to make 6 stencils per sheet of acetate, so it ended up also being much more cost effective than buying pre-made ones. An added bonus is I can create stencils for any occasion! (Earlier this year, I made some fall themed ones.)
With Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought it would be fun to create some cute, Valentine’s inspired stencils so I could make some festive drinks at home. I even tried out different garnishes, like beetroot latte powder, to make them extra festive with some pink hearts, which turned out really well! I also tried using 100% beetroot powder to create some red hearts, but that didn’t work out as nicely as the latte powder. (The natural red dyes were too strong by itself and it bled out and ended up just looking like a red blob.)
Anyways, let’s get on to the DIY!
CUSTOM LATTE STENCILS – Materials Needed:
- Cricut Maker (Cricut.com / Amazon.ca)
- Cricut essential tools
- Standard-grip cutting mat
- My project or template available on Design Space
- Acetate sheets
Step 1: Creating and cutting the design
First, you’ll need to start a new project using my project template, which is located on Design Space here.
If you are graphic design savvy, you can download my stencil template here and add your own design to it. You can upload your own designs in any of the following formats: .jpg, .gif, .png, and .bmp. I made some custom designs as well (stay tuned for another post on those later!), but for these ones I just searched keywords like “heart” and “Valentine’s Day” in Design Space.
Once you have found a design you like, click on “Make It!” and connect your Cricut machine. On the next screen, select “Acetate” from the list of materials (you might need to search for it in order to get it to come up for the first time). If you’re using the same acetate as I did, I found that setting the pressure to “more” worked best. If you chose a different acetate sheet, I’d recommend doing a few test cuts first to see what pressure and settings work best to produce a clean cut.
When you’re happy with your settings it’s time to get your mat prepared. Place the acetate sheet onto the standard-grip cutting mat, if you have an older grip-mat you might want to use masking tape to tape down around the edges for added support. I was working with a new grip mat, so I had no problems getting it to stay put. Next, load your machine and start your cut!
Step 3: Weeding your design
Once it’s done cutting, it’s time to weed your design – this is the process of removing the negative space from your cut. If this is your first project, here is a helpful video by Cricut that demonstrates the traditional weeding process. For the stencils, the weeding process was a little tricky. I found that it worked the best if I first removed the outside excess material, so that I was left with the individual stencils. Next, I would pop the stencil off the grip mat and then remove the detailed cuts/shape from the stencil by hand or with my Cricut tweezers for smaller pieces.
Occasionally, where a part of the design was very small and detailed I would encounter a spot where the cut didn’t go all the way through (I didn’t have this problem with any of the simpler designs). I used my exato-knife to cut through the spot that was hanging on for dear life. I wanted to make sure it had a clean cut so that the stencil would work properly, which is why I didn’t want to just pull it off.
Step 4: Using and cleaning your stencils
This is the real fun part, getting to see your creation in action! I was really excited to use these and was really happy with the results.
I found that they work best if the foam is level and almost to the rim of the cup. Simply place your stencil on top of the foam and sprinkle it with your favourite garnish. I personally love to use chocolate, cinnamon or pumpkin spice on mine. (Sometimes I’ll even mix some of them together!)
To clean the stencils, simply gently wipe them clean with a bit of warm, soapy water on a cloth and pat them dry.
I’ve been having a lot of fun making latte stencils with my Maker, and I love how these ones turned out! Although I made them with Valentine’s Day in mind, I think that they’re cute enough for any occasion.
Although this is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cricut and contains affiliate links, all opinions are 100% mine.
